This is the Platinum Jubilee (75th) Post on this Blog. It is a tribute to our Father of the Nation, M.K. Gandhi whose 140th Birth Anniversary was celebrated yesterday.

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 3; the third edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

You can be what you want on that land of paradiseSo they said and left to chase the American DreamSome fell on the way while others managed to riseBut they missed to realise a possible Indian DreamHere can be no dream but nightmares they naggedHurriedly packing their bags for the foreign shoreWhat has India given to me they demandingly askedNot bothering to mention what had they given to her

A possible Indian Dream?

Yes, to dream in India is possible and to realise it, staying here is also possible.

However, I am not an idealist. Hence, I am not against anyone leaving the country for the greener pastures. Moreover, in this global village where each economy is dependent upon each other, free flow of human resources is as important as goods and services. India is the largest receiver of remittances from its overseas citizens, something that fuels our forex reserves and makes us competitive on global front.

In short an Indian Dream can also be realised while staying away. However, for that to happen, you will have to see your dream and the Indian dream complementing each other. You may stay away physically but emotionally you will have to stay close enough.

What is the Indian dream?

It is the dream that all the people, irrespective of their socio-economic standing, will get the opportunities to realise their potential within the country.

In this sense my Indian dream and your Indian dream are the same, i.e. to succeed in life and definitely we will prefer to realise it staying closer to our roots. Ofcourse there are some exceptions who are just adamant to move away to foreign lands irrespective of the fact that back home, the opportunities exist or not. For them, the grass is always greener on the other side.

Not including such exceptions in this discussion; we must realise first of all that the onus lies upon us to make our country resilient enough. Before demanding anything, we have to be ever ready to supply her with the nourishment she requires.

For example, on short term basis, the money we receive from non-residents may boost our economy but for the long term development of the nation, we also need their true commitment. It’s something like taking care of the ailing parents who need personal attention rather than monetary help.

As for those who opt to stay back because of their dignity or the lack of opportunity, must learn to accept the fact that we have many problems on our way which must be dealt by us, ourselves.

Yes, we cannot live in any delusion and have to find our way through. We cannot put all the responsibility on the government but have to shoulder it too. Poverty, overpopulation, unemployment, illiteracy, corruption, environmental degradation, communalism, casteism, terrorism, regionalism and disparities are just some of the causes that are impeding our growth and not allowing us to have a promising Indian dream. And these problems cannot be solved by escaping from them but by facing them with courage and determination.

To make it possible, it is not necessary to be in any specific power position. We as the citizens have to perform our vocations, whatever they maybe, diligently. We have to act responsibly and empathically in our social interactions. We have to develop sensitivity towards the economic disparities that exist and help the government in plugging them. We have to perform our role as a good citizen before demanding good governance.

Our forefathers also had an Indian dream!

They saw an India where the people will be free from all the clutches and will rule themselves.

They gave us the freedom and gave us the vision but somehow we wavered off the path. However, the situation is not all that glum. Last decade or two have seen India taking the right trajectory once again and the conditions seem ripe to realise our Indian Dream. However, it should be ensured that the fruits of development are distributed among all the citizens and are not limited to any particular section.

What about our future generations' Indian Dream?

If everyone takes upon himself/herself to be a part of this Indian dream, and make our personal dreams a part of it too, then we can give a sweet Indian dream to our future generations.

Let us just not wait
For the Change to happen but
Be the Change ourselves.

Moreover, this Indian Dream should not be seen in relative terms but in absolute terms. We have to compete with ourselves and not with anyone else. This is true for us individually and India as a whole. There is a thin line between optimism and wishful thinking. We must not transgress it.

Now, it is upto you to decide, this Indian dream of mine is a delusion or a vision.

Off-the-topic Relevant Reflections :

The first poem is a simple two-versed composition with the most common rhyming pattern of a-b-a-b.

The last two lines of this poem are inspired by the U.S. President J.F. Kennedy's famous quote, "Don't ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

The second poem is a Mirror Cinquain, an extended form of the cinquain, a form of poetry that I have introduced earlier on this blog. Moreover, this cinquain is much closer to the original form than my previous attempt. Here line 1 has 1 noun, line 2 has 2 adjectives explaining the noun, line 3 has 3 action verbs (-ing ending verbs), line 4 has a 4 words phrase and line 5 has 1 word explaining the noun in line 1. The Mirror cinquain is formed by a cinquain and a reverse cinquian. Original cinquains have a 2, 4, 6, 8, 2 syllables pattern which got gradually transformed into a 1, 2, 3, 4, 1 words pattern.

The third poem is my crude first attempt at a Haiku. It is a very popular form of short poetry, an unrhyming verse genre, conveying an image or feeling in two parts spread over 3 lines with 5, 7, 5 syllables pattern. Traditional Japanese Haiku is written with a seasonal reference unlike this one.

This Haiku is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's famous quote, "Be the change you want to see in the world." It is a tribute to the great man whose 140th Birth Anniversary was celebrated yesterday.

Talking of Indian Dream and poems, you might like to read my childhood poem on this subject. It is in Hindi and have been posted earlier. Click here to read it.

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

Image Courtesy:
http://img.fropper.com (edited)

Dear reader, I have been diagnosed with ACDS or Acute Comments Deficiency Syndrome.
My condition is critical and deteriorating day by day. The Doctor has recommended me a high dosage of comments to stay alive.
So, if you took out time to read this post, be kind enough to take out some more time to leave a comment.
Your few more moments may add few more moments to my life.
May God bless you and your blog.

hey shruti..u cmmntd evn b4 i cud post i blive..lolThnx yar 4 appreciating it and for all these kind wrds:)I really wish u r bombarded with gr8 thoughts 2 make it to this blog-a-ton by the end of the day :)

wooooo poetry is my turn on :P...sorry its too late (or say early morning) i shouldnt be joking...read the post in bits and peices...will return tomorow to reread and review this one..i like the haiku...:)

PS:problem with net,.,.connects only 5 minutes...what more u can do in five minutes???submit the post link to blog-a-ton!and then comment here...!!woow i m fast..lol..tomorow...ful comment comment...

Hey vipul.. that was an amazing post!!! tooooo good.. "Let us just not wait For the Change to happen butBe the Change ourselves." looved it!!!!I am out of ideas for this topic and kept thinking its tomorrow(its still fri here :D) when I visited shankar's, I realized it's today.. will write something fast..

Actually after this current Global meltdown we have seen a 'reverse' brain drain .... people are coming back or not I am not really sure but are seeing that Grass is really not that Green on the 'other' side... so many H1B Visas still not grabbed proves it this year...You are right we can dream and fulfill them in India itself...

Like you said "If everyone takes upon himself/herself to be a part of this Indian dream, and make our personal dreams a part of it too, then we can give a sweet Indian dream to our future generations." Amen ...

If not for its highly technical nature, the post was a worth read. Vipul. I guess with everyday of your civils preparation, your posts are becoming very very subjective. But nevertheless, your use of rare types of poetry will have its effect, I bet this time Blog-a-ton has a sure winner!

the opening poem is strong and suggests your take on the topic without misleading poetry :P..the poem is straight and is very effective to rip a many hearts...the last line is my favorite...agar closing ho toh aise!

Criticism time (i am so sorry)--i think the text that followed the first poem was pretty same..as a matter of fact i thought it was not needed at all..the poem said it all..(perhaps this was for the people who wouldn't follow the poem..well..err who cant follow the poem by the way???its so clear..huh!!)

the structure of the second poem is interesting..:)nice poem that is..simple sweet and hard hitting..

and as i told you earlier i think the haiku is a million dollar one(i somewhere read 1rupee=45$ i am following just this value)

so u can imagine how much your haiku costs...and how much it would have cost your post if you hadn't written it at all!!

@narendra.. Thnx buddy for the wishes:)Um happy tht at last sum1 commented on just the poetry part :)As for ur first criticism(it's most welcome), I don't find similarity b/w poem nd the following text. While poem is sort of against brain drain, the text justifies it, hence making a balance. In tht sense, both r opposite nd not similar:)Um really happy, u liked all the poems.Luking fwd 2 read ur's soon enuf!

Hey Vipul, Sorry, your's was the first post and it took me so long to get to it ! The foolish me always starts from the bottom of the comment stream in BAT :-)

"..We have to develop sensitivity towards the economic disparities that exist and help the government in plugging them. We have to perform our role as a good citizen before demanding good governance..."

So true. Despite all the in-efficiencies, corruption et al, a lot of this is no easy task even for our government.India is a mammoth.

We ought to do our bit first. When we point a finger at someone 3 point right back at us. So we better do our bit first :-)

Good theme, and great expressions. More than that, what do I say, sitting at the other side of the globe!! Every word points at me and says, "its you, its you, its you"... :-)

Let us hope this dream comes true. Let us hope, the way a UN diplomat, Shashi Tharoor came back and crash landed in Indian politics, there would be more who is willing to do so, in different fields :-)

as usual.. I liked ur post very much.. "In short an Indian Dream can also be realised while staying away. However, for that to happen, you will have to see your dream and the Indian dream complementing each other. "caught my fancy

@Nasrajan.. Hey buddy, I actually wrote those initial lines to justify moving 2 othr countries as hd recently read a couple of posts where ppl wer advocating staying back in country to help her out :)About Shashi Tharoor, indeed the man has taken a bold step nd already thr r unwantd controversies being generatd 2 demoralise him. Politics at its wrst u see! Before him, we hav a gr8 example of Sam Pitroda who rtrnd 2 India on Rajiv Gandhi's request nd rest is history. We definitely need sch ppl!

I totally agree with you Vipul. (no argument this time!) You have to face problems everywhere. You have to adjust this way or that way then doing that near your roots is always better.We have to solve our problems and should not depend onothers to do that.Really nice post!!

hmmm ... At first I wud like to say tht I loved the topic of Blog a ton thngy this tym ...Interesting !!!

n after readin all the posts of fellow bloggers, wat I have realized is... we all are very much aware of the fact tht we need to change ourselves if we really want to bring change in the country ... which is indeed a first step I believe ... so I guess we will complete the journey soon

To say simply, I am glad that you asked what we have done for this country? Fulfilment of every dream starts at home. Your poems were great. And your explanations better. Thanks for sharing such insights. :)

Poems inspire me. And the opening lines in your post are brilliant. Being away from India, I truly feel everything about her and I write it from the heart. It's so true that we have to be the change that we hope to see in our country!

Wonderfuly woven choosing the right words to bring out a thought provoking post.

I recently came to know about poetry styles, I never knew they existed ( I mean, I all knew was the last words rhyme :P ). Seeing your post, made me understand how technical the poems are. Very interesting indeed. Good post Vipul and yes, You are doing a great job at Blog a ton :)

@Aditya.. Thnx 4 all those kind wrds buddy.Um happy I cud tell u a thing or two about different forms of poetry.. I myslf startd taking intrst in these new forms only recently. othrwise it was the same abab or aabb for me :)

I would just like to quote the immortal words of 'Kabiguru' Rabindranath Tagore here:

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held highWhere knowledge is freeWhere the world has not been broken up into fragmentsBy narrow domestic wallsWhere words come out from the depth of truthWhere tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfectionWhere the clear stream of reason has not lost its wayInto the dreary desert sand of dead habitWhere the mind is led forward by theeInto ever-widening thought and actionInto that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Very inspiring, timeless and immortal words indeed! This is Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore's dream of a free and glorious India... a dream that has yet to be achieved...

Hey roshmi thnx 4 reproducing this poem here.. I myself wantd 2 sumhow include its first line in this post but failed 2 find any viable context..An Indian Dream, indeed; unachieved but immortal nonetheless :)

Blog-a-Ton Reflections

These are the latest updates from my community blog, Blog-a-Ton, an ever-growing online community of bloggers where we decide a topic and publish a post on it; the first saturday, every month. Visit it to know more.